The Transition Album

Don't you hate it when a band you really like changes they're sound and starts writing songs that are completely different from the ones that got you into that band in the first place? This is something that happens to lots of bands in some way or another. They're musical tastes start to drift, or they get tired of writing the same type of stuff, or just simply due to the pressure from they're label or distributors, they're music starts to transform into something else. From what I have noticed, it happens more often than not. It is not always a bad thing when bands evolve, in some cases they're sound and style improves as a result of the musicians expanding themselves and experimenting. Also, on the flip-side it can get pretty boring when a band becomes predictable and every album they release sounds just like the one they released before it. (Of course a lot of it depends on taste and each listeners musical preference, I might like a band so much that I don't mind if all they're albums have the same sound if I just can't get enough of it.) Ideally thou, I think a band should have a certain sound that is uniquely theirs and then build off of that. Any time a band starts making drastic changes, or when they play it safe and stick to the exact same formula every time, it always falls through the cracks in my opinion.

One of the main things that I have noticed about bands that change they're sound is that there is almost always a "transition album", as I like to call it. This is the album where you can tell they are starting to go a different direction, but for the most part they are still recognizably the same band. Take Metallica for instance. If you listen to Ride The Lightning, or Master of Puppets and compare it to, say, Load or (god forbid) St. Anger, you may wonder what the hell happened. I know I do. But take a look a Metallica's discography and it will make a little more sense. You have the early albums, when Metallica were young, pissed off teenagers with loads of talent creating aggressive, fast, heavy music. And then on the other hand you have what Metallica are today, older, still talented but much less vigorous dudes with families who are more likely to spend they're weekends barbecuing in the backyard than rocking out in the garage. So it makes sense that they're music isn't what it was 20 years ago, but when did these changes start taking place? What was they're "transition album"? My answer would have to be the album "...And Justice For All". On that album you could still sense the youthful spirit of the first few albums, but you could also tell that they were starting to slow down a bit, taking they're music down a different road. They were still playing music that was heavy, but now it wasn't quite as raw and aggressive as they're earlier material. And then when "The Black Album" came out, you knew that the old Metallica was gone. James Hetfield had adopted a new style of singing, and Kirk Hammett was starting to ease up on the blistering guitar solos and lightning fast riffs. The guitar work was more groove-oriented, and the songs overall were a bit more straightforward. Im not saying the black album was bad, on the contrary. But it was the first album where Metallica had completely abandoned they're roots in bay area thrash, and started down the path that led them to where they are today.

The reason I felt like writing about this is because I recently listened to the new Edguy album "Tinnitus Sanctus"and was completely disgusted with it. How did a band that used to write awesome songs like "Tears of a Mandrake" and "Theater of Salvation" go to writing songs like "Aren't You a Little Pervert Too?". Its because Tobias Sammet (Edguy's songwriter and vocalist) got tired of writing power metal songs and decided he would rather play hard rock/metal songs that were full of sexual innuendos and stupid humor. And while I can't blame him for following his passion and doing what he wanted to do regardless of how many people it would disappoint, I can't help but be disappointed myself, knowing that he will probably never write another song like "The Unbeliever" or "Painting on the Wall".

So what happened with Edguy? The same thing that happened with Metallica, and millions of other bands. They're sound started to shift when they released they're "transition album" (In Edguy's case it was the album "Hellfire Club) and from that point on they gradually slipped further and further from they're roots until they became the Edguy that they are today. And although I will probably never buy another Edguy album for as long as I live, I will always listen when they release new material, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sound that I grew so attached to.

I could go on and on naming bands who I used to love and can't stand anymore, naming the transition album for each of them. Just to name a few; For Children of Bodom it was "Hate Crew Deathroll", for Sonata Arctica it was "Unia" (I know they haven't released any new material since "Unia" as of this point, but mark my words when they do it will no longer be the same Sonata Arctica, I am positive that "Unia was they're transition album), for Sepultura it was "Chaos AD", for Enslaved it was "Mardraum", I could keep on going, seriously but right now it is late so I won't.

I guess what I am trying to say is that a good band should have an underlying style that is uniquely theirs, and keep they're music interesting by adding new elements and creatively expanding on top of it. Otherwise keeping the same formula gets boring, and conversely completely changing your sound makes you a different band, so you should probably just change your band's name if your going to write completely different music. (take a cue from Ihsahn from Emperor).

Anyway thats about it for now. I'll probably write more about this type of stuff later.